FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP (Somerset County) — Reggae and calypso music and a taste of the islands are on the agenda as Franklin Township hosts the 2010 Central Jersey Caribbean Festival Saturday.

“A significant number of people of Caribbean heritage reside right here in Central Jersey and we are expecting those families as well as all others who love everything Caribbean to come to this festival,” said festival coordinator Elsie Foster-Dublin. “If only for a few hours, people will get a real flavor of our islands.”

The free event is sponsored by the Somerset County Cultural Diversity Coalition, the Jamaica Organization of New Jersey and the Hamilton Street Business and Community Coalition from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on 712 Hamilton Street.

“Celebrating cultural diversity is what America is all about,” said Efren Dato, executive director of the coalition. “June is Caribbean Heritage month and with statistics from the 2000 census showing that Caribbeans comprised 16.2 percent of the 238,572 foreign-born people in New Jersey, the festival will allow us to appreciate the uniqueness of all cultures,” he said.

Visitors can listen to the music, watch traditional dances and sample cultural delicacies from the 18 states of the Caribbean.

Amid the fun, Foster-Dublin said she hopes the event will be an exercise in cultural and community awareness and unity.

“It’s important for people to get to know the people who live among them,” she said.
“We’re not a very large visible presence, but we are there,” she said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t know about one another.”

Last year’s event drew over 2,000 people and organizers expect even more to attend this year. Festival goers can expect a full day of performances by the New Jersey Orators, the InSpira Performing Arts and Cultural Center, as well as a host of singers, dancers and entertainers.

“It’s an opportunity for strangers to become friends and learn about another culture in the process,” Foster-Dublin said.